Stories and happenings in the life of a flight attendant written after my book.
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All photos by Penguin Scott unless noted.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Adventures in Flight: Productive PIT Stop

I was dining at the
airport in Newark, NJ a while ago. It was lunch time and there were
few seats open so another flight attendant asked if I would share my
table with her. She worked for the other side of our airline and we
each had a lot of questions for one another, since one day we would
be working together after our two companies merged.

She was on her way
to San Francisco for an 11-hour layover. I was on my way to Cleveland
for a 20-hour layover. Upon hearing that I'd be in Cleveland for 20
hours, she quipped, “That's so unproductive!” I recoiled.

Learning history in Pittsburgh

Unproductive? Why
would she say this. She had no idea of my plans while in Cleveland.
Then I realized that she meant it was unproductive for the company.
How odd, I thought, that she was that wrapped up in the company to
want only productive trips, ones where flight attendants are
constantly on the plane, much like how planes don't earn money when
at the gate. Flight attendants must be robots in her world.

I let it go,
thinking she was a little odd, which in our profession, meeting
flight attendants who are a little odd is nothing new. But as time
went on, I heard this saying over and over again from the flight
attendants on the other side. “You guys like long layovers, they
are so unproductive.”

Our complaints of
them is how they work themselves to death. They are known for having
a younger work force, who, for some reason or another, think flight
attendants should be making $80K a year, so work, work, work. They
work San Francisco to Ft. Lauderdale turns, over 11 flight hours and
a duty day of 14 hours, with no rest in between. Then, some of them
will turn around and do it again the next day. (There are a lot of
professions to earn beau coup bucks. Flight attendant is not one of
them.)

Each side has
flights to China. Ours is a 4-day trip, where theirs is 3-days. They
like theirs and we like ours. We go out and shop and dine and explore
before resting up for the flight home. They go out and shop and dine
and then go right back to the plane without much rest or chance to
explore local cultures.

Seeing the sights in Beijing; Temple of Heaven

I've experienced
what my future flying partner wants our work life to be like. I've
had the short layovers, where you get to the hotel and try to
decompress as quickly as possible, because you look at the clock as
you slip out of your uniform and realize that horrid van that takes
you back to the airplane will leave in only 9 hours. That was after a
13 hour day, and the following is almost as long. Considering you
lose an hour in transit to and from the airport, an hour to get ready
in the morning, an hour to get ready for bed, and hopefully 8 hours
to sleep, the absolute minimum layover that I ever want to see is 11
hours, and that's if I don't want to sleep, make some calls, enjoy
some television, read. And to venture out and explore takes more, yet.

One of my first
trips in San Francisco was one leaving late at night with a 5 hour
layover in Oregon before flying first thing in the morning to
Chicago. I was a reserve and had been up all day long, not knowing I
would be treated like this until the trip was assigned to me just
hours before I had to fly it. That's the life of a reserve. Now that
I've got 14 years under my belt, I shouldn't be treated like that unless I
ask for it! I've dated that woman. I have the scars. I like to be
romanced!

The comment I hear
often from the other side is how much they enjoy their time at home.
My response is, “Yeah, but then you're too tired and spend half the
day taking a nap. I'd rather use that nap time sleeping in my hotel
room!” I usually get silence in return as maybe they realize the
truth of my sentiment.

Nice rooms and nice views; this one is in Beijing.

I got this job to
see the world. When I'm in China, I want to see the sights and
museums and experience some of the local culture. And not just China,
I do that in any city I visit. I know a lot about most of the cities
my airline flies to simply from going out to explore while on a
layover. Working for the airline is akin to having an education paid
for.

On a recent visit to
China, my flying partners started talking about this. We decided that
as a work group, our side is generally more cultured, better rounded,
and more experienced, than their side. Our flight attendants seem
better able to cope with various cultures and have a more thorough
rapport with passengers. We are better rested and provide better
service in flight, as well.

Sunset in Pittsburgh

I like my long
layovers, but I'm tired hearing from others how they are
"unproductive". Having just come home from a 24-hour
layover in Pittsburgh, I accomplished a lot. Besides a nice long
walk, learning some history and meeting nice people, I opened a new
bank account, called my insurance company for information about my
upcoming move, wrote a letter to my aunt, got caught up with a few
friends on the computer, looked up information about the city I'm
about to move to, edited a story, watched the news and then went out
to grab dinner and eat in the park while watching the sun set across
the Allegheny River...ALL WHILE BEING PAID (per diem). Had I been
home, not even half of that would have been accomplished. Sounds
pretty damned productive to me!